Update on Maryland's Bizarre Case of the Bodies in the Freezer

March 18, 2009

Renee D. Bowman, 43, the Lusby, Maryland woman suspected of killing two of her adopted daughters and storing their corpses inside a freezer, had originally been indicted on charges of first-degree child abuse with regard to the third adopted daughter who survived and whose actions resulted in the authorities being notified of the atrocities that had occurred inside the family's home.  Many readers will be interested in knowing that Bowman was also indicted by a grand jury on attempted first-degree murder, as well as a number of other charges, with regard to the now 8-year-old girl who managed to escape from the filthy flea-infested house of horror.

"The nature of the case took it to that level," Detective Sgt. Michael Moore said.  The Calvert County Sheriff's Department detective also indicated that the charges were upgraded to include attempted first-degree murder due to the severity of the surviving girl's injuries.

The girl's injuries, readers will recall, included open infected sores and lacerations, as well as ligature marks on her body and considerable scarring on her neck.  Bowman has not yet been charged with the deaths of the two girls found inside the freezer, presumably because the coroner has not yet ruled on the girls' cause of death.
 
According to an article that appeared in The Washington Post in October 2008, Bowman allegedly went shopping for a new fall wardrobe on eBay a few months before the case came to a head, while the dead girls lay in the basement freezer.  The computer she used was located in a small room above the basement.  She ended up purchasing a couple of inexpensive jackets, and purchased a gold ring adorned with fake diamonds in the shape of a heart from the online auction site.  About a month prior to her arrest, Bowman purchased a small statuette that depicted a mother in a sitting position cradling a child in her arms.  It was called "A Mother's Grace" on eBay.

Bowman apparently liked going on the Internet a great deal.  She had three e-mail addresses, and was known to visit a high-school reunion type Web site where she reunited with an old friend from high school.  She had written on Internet sites that she liked to read and write, and that Janet Evanovich was her favorite author.  Her favorite television program, she had said, was Dexter.  There were also details of her childhood, in which Bowman characterized herself as being like that of an "abused dog," and said that she had experienced a violent and chaotic childhood.  She recounted how her mother had left her family behind and became homeless, and how she had seen her mother bathing in a church's school fountain while students watched.

"My mother would come and bathe in the fountain," Bowman once wrote to her high school friend.  "I would stand there and dream of being beautiful and having a beautiful life..."

She also told of how she had seen her mother, as well as other homeless people, who would come into the bathroom of the school's library and bathe in the sink.  She said that on those occasions when she had seen her mother, her mother had not recognized her.

During interviews with investigators, Bowman allegedly said that one of the girls found inside the basement freezer had died from starvation, and that the other girl had died following a fall.  Investigators believe the girls' bodies may have been stored inside the freezer for up to a year, perhaps when Bowman was still living in Montgomery County.  According to the police, Bowman had moved from Montgomery County to Charles County, and later to Calvert County.

"We're still investigating where the girls met their deaths," Montgomery County Lt. Paul Starks said.  Starks added that investigators were "nailing down the timeline of when and where they were and who last saw these girls alive."

Apparently Bowman was receiving approximately $2,400 a month from a federal program for caring for the three girls.  She had been recommended as a fitting adoptive parent by one of the child and family services agencies as early as 2001, possibly earlier, despite financial difficulties that eventually took her into bankruptcy.

A biological relative of Minnet's last autumn indicated an intention to adopt the surviving girl, and said that his family "just want her to live with us, with her sister's family...She shouldn't be back in foster care, especially after what happened to her.  She needs to be with her family."  The relative indicated that he and his family had not been able to adopt Jasmine and Minnet earlier, when their mother had abandoned them due to drug problems and mental illness. 

"But I'm ready now.  She should be with me.  I'm her blood."

According to those well-versed in adoption, this particular case is more difficult than a typical case of adoption because the family that desires to adopt the girl, whose name has not been released because of her age, resides in another state.  Nonetheless, efforts to adopt the girl by her relatives continue.

In January 2009 an auction organized by the man who had initially alerted the police after the girl, who has since been given the name "Calvert's Child," had escaped from her allegedly abusive home raised $4,315 that was added to an already established fund for the girl.

As things currently stand, Bowman could receive up to 25 years in prison if convicted on child abuse charges; she could also get a life prison sentence if convicted of attempted murder.  Of course, if she's ever charged in the deaths of Jasmine and Minnet the punishment, upon conviction, could potentially be more severe.

Related Link:
Maryland's Bizarre Case of the Bodies in the Freezer

Photo Credits: Calvert County Sheriff’s Department

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Comments

[cecilia]

poor children they had a long life ahead of them dont kill children dude seriously!!!! scary

[wc]

I can't believe a mother could do that. Even if they were her biological children or not. She took them into her home. They trusted her. I hope the mother gets what she deserves.

[Jon]

sadly, these perpetrators sometimes need more help than punishment, but it's a tough call for our justice system.